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Vancouver man sends Iraqi kids spinning--Columbian,
Gregg Herrington
Fired captain gets back pay--Columbian, Gregg
Herrington
Bridge the Gap exploring fund raising
options--Columbian, Kelly Adams
Port of Vancouver seeing fewer ships, less
revenue--Columbian, Jonathan Nelson
Bullish on tranquility--Columbian, Kathie Durbin
Iraq conflict creates huge partisan split across
state--Seattle Times, Susan Gilmore
Nethercutt-Murray race for U.S. Senate to get
nasty--Seattle Times, Alex Fryer
Dow closes above 10,000--Washington Post, Jerry
Knight
Mortgage rates dip--USA TODAY, AP
Chamber-led coalition wants county to take more time
on growth management update
Saying the
numbers that the county is using to base its Growth
Management Plan update are “flawed,” a Greater
Vancouver Chamber of Commerce coalition today asked
that the county delay final adoption of the document
that will guide growth for the next 20 years.
“We’re headed
for a train wreck ten years down the road,” said
John McKibbin,
Vancouver chamber president, “if we allow phantom
numbers to guide our growth plan.”
McKibbin said
that the focus of the growth plan must be on job
growth. In Clark County we have one job for every
three people. In the Portland metropolitan area, the
number is one job for every two people.
One of the
numbers is the expected rate of population growth,
which under the draft update is 1.8 percent. That’s
unrealistic, according to McKibbin, who points out
that the actual growth rate has been more than 3
percent a year for the past 42 years. Over the past
decade the rate has exceeded 4 percent. Currently it
is 2.4 percent.
Terry Tweedell,
Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce's executive
director, said that Battle Ground’s vision sets its
future beyond what the scenario set in the draft
update.
“We believe
that, if we prepare for growth needed to maintain
out community, it will come,” Tweedell said, adding,
“with that growth, tax dollars will follow to
support that growth.”
McKibbin and
Tweedell were joined by representatives of the
Responsible Growth Forum, Identity Clark County,
Vancouver School District, Clark County Association
of Realtors, Building Industry of Southwest
Washington, Port of Vancouver, Clark County Labor
Roundtable, and Identity Clark County at a news
conference this morning. All sought a delay of final
adoption of the 20-year update.
Meantime,
Clark County commissioners are continuing hearings
on the update. The most recent was Tuesday. The next
is at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 16.
Perfect
accreditation score puts SWMC Cancer Center in top
ten percent nationwide
Southwest
Washington Medical Center’s Cancer Center received a
perfect score in its accreditation by the Commission
on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons,
ranking the center among the top ten in the nation.
The Cancer
Center was recognized for offering quality patient
care and a comprehensive range of treatment and
support services, assuring patients the latest
information on and access to cancer clinical trials,
education and support programs.
The
commission also recognized the center’s Cancer
Registry for providing lifelong patient follow-up
and tracking.
Southwest
Washington Medical Center has also been recognized
nationally for its website design. A Platinum Award
has been given the medical center by eHealthcare
Strategy and Trends for website design.
Women In
Action to get
Confluence Project update
Jan Gallimore,
director of education and outreach for the
Confluence Project,
Maya Lin’s interpretive art commemorating the
Columbia River region at the time of the Lewis and
Clark expedition, will be guest speaker at the noon
Wednesday, Dec. 17, Women In Action annual raffle
luncheon in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay.
Nonmembers
are invited. For further information and
reservations, call
Lisa Hunter,
695-3411.
nnn
People
State Rep.
Bill Fromhold
(D-49th) has been named 2003 State Legislator of the
Year by the Washington State Skills Center Directors
Association. --- Vancouver firefighter
Mark Johnson
has been appointed to the new state Law Enforcement
Officers and Fire Fighters Pension Board of
Trustees.
News
briefs
The annual
legislative outlook breakfast, sponsored by the
Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, Identity
Clark County and the Columbia River Economic
Development Council, is at 7 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12,
in the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay. For reservations,
call 694-2588.
--- A discussion of the status of the northern
spotted owl, sponsored by Sustainable Ecosystems
Institute and Washington State University Vancouver,
is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, in WSU
Vancouver’s Student Services Center. SEI is
assisting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
prepare a five-year status review of the owl, which
was designated as threatened in July 1990.
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